Top 10 Consent Management Platforms to Make Your Website Compliant
In the online world, the unassuming cookie plays a pivotal role and serves as small data stored by websites in visitors’ browsers. As users navigate the Internet using their browsers, these cookies — which are crucial for recognizing returning users — accumulate in vast numbers, even during a single website visit. Various entities, including the website itself and third-party platforms like Google Analytics, add virtual cookies.
However, the use of cookies comes with legal considerations, particularly in regions like the European Union. Laws coerce web publishers into informing users about the deployment of cookies and asking for explicit consent before using them.
That’s why Google has decided to force all publishers and developers who use Google AdSense, Ad Manager, or AdMob to employ a certified Consent Management Platform (CMP). The program is going to get started on February 1, 2024, and aims to stress the significant importance of effective consent management on the Internet.
What is a Consent Management Platform?
A Consent Management Platform (CMP) is a critical tool to help users ensure compliance with privacy regulations, especially those related to user data and cookies. It functions between website publishers and users to simplify transparent communication and acquire explicit consent for data collection routines.
CMPs let users know about the types of data being collected, its purpose, and the involved third parties. Since privacy laws — including GDPR and CCPA — are regularly modified, CMPs play an undeniable role in helping businesses stick to legal requirements.
Such platforms furnish customizable consent banners, cookie categorization, and storage solutions to empower businesses to build trust with users, avoid lawful repercussions, and deliver digital experiences with a deep focus on privacy.
Top 10 Consent Management Platforms
Considering the notable importance of consent management platforms in the near future, we’re going to learn more about ten of the top CMPs certified by Google below.
1. OneTrust
In the pitch of data privacy, OneTrust is a supreme player that reminds everyone of its strong consent management solutions. The platform’s collection of features includes ESG reporting, cyber threat management, and operational resilience. It’s a powerful platform for users’ consent needs in addition to various business challenges.
OneTrust is known as one of the most expensive consent management platforms on the market. The platform’s packages may start at a considerable price of $50,000 per year. Although the pricing is justifiable based on the enterprise’s magnitude, the cost might be a barrier for countless businesses with limited budgets.
The platform has been specifically designed for giants on the market and shows off its power for the needs of large businesses. Its integration potential with various business intelligence platforms proves its adaptability within complex ecosystems.
However, the path to harnessing its power is not without hurdles. Navigating the intricacies of this software giant can be challenging, especially when attempting to integrate it with in-house systems.
Despite all the significant advantages of OneTrust, there are some considerations. The long-term contracts, though aligned with enterprise norms, might be burdensome for smaller entities. Also, there are reports regarding improper customer support in some cases that have left users abandoned in their exploration of the best consent management systems.
2. Cookiebot
Cookiebot CMP strongly manages cookies/trackers on websites to guarantee privacy compliance. It has a mighty monthly scanner that identifies and categorizes cookies, blocks them until visitors give consent, and provides full control over online tracking.
Reliable consent collection from Cookiebot is simple through the platform’s pre-built templates or customizable banners as they clarify data collection purposes. Also, its safe consent storage — up to 12 months — and broad consent logs enable steady privacy compliance, audits, and data subject access proposals.
Cookiebot is used on 1.4 million websites and governs 5.2 billion monthly user consents. It simplifies legal complexities by staying updated on changing regulations, using modern scanning technology, and proposing international customization.
Cookiebot furnishes granular consent options, customized branding, and immediate setup to sweeten users’ experience. Its automated scanning and categorization processes save time and resources and require negligible maintenance after the primary setup.
The platform’s free package supplies one domain and up to 50 subpages, in addition to diverse features like GDPR, CCPA/CPRA compliance, pre-built banner templates, preview functions, explicit consent, cookie declaration previews, automatic categorization, and myriad integrations.
3. TrustArc
TrustArc is another top-notch consent management platform that delivers an all-in-one data privacy management system. Its main purpose is to ease data access and management and guarantee compliance with global privacy regulations.
The platform offers a blend of professional advice, concentrated governance, efficient functions, and state-of-the-art technology to enable businesses to abide by regulations through automation, which results in maximum customer delight.
TrustArc deeply focuses on transparency and user choice to help companies turn into dependable brands by esteeming consent tendencies, simplifying user opt-ins/opt-outs, and helping customers with their privacy rights. It modernizes data management and privacy operations to protect companies through automation features such as data mapping, risk assessment, and regulatory compliance.
The presence of TrustArc is enhanced by its comprehensive platform which uses various managed support services to secure compliance across prominent international privacy legislations. Despite all the strengths of the platform, some users are unhappy with pricey plans and inappropriate customer support.
4. Usercentrics
Usercentrics is the next potent consent management platform on our list. It provides countless apps and websites with comprehensive features. Most importantly, the platform offers a free auditing tool to responsibly keep ad revenue audit-proof through powerful documentation.
To provide maximum transparency, the platform merges well with prevalent workplace apps and platforms like Google tools, HubSpot, and Mailchimp. It perfectly explains cookies and the implications of opt-ins and highlights the favorable impact of transparency on opt-in rates.
Usercentrics shows off its power in compliance by managing GDPR, CCPA, LGPD, and POPIA requirements for both websites and apps. It remarkably handles 5.2 billion monthly consents and a grid of over 3,000 partners, introducing itself as a mighty player in the consent management geography.
All the benefits of Usercentrics aren’t confined to compliance; it protects advertising revenue by underscoring the integral role of consent in digital marketing triumph. The platform delivers transparency and adaptability to legal strategies to minimize risks and defend businesses against privacy breaches, warnings, and hefty penalties.
5. Osano
Osano is known as a powerhouse among different consent management platforms. It’s equipped with a plethora of tools optimized for data protection regulations and user consent management. The platform’s “No Fines, No Penalties Pledge” covers fines up to $200,000 for those who use Osano’s legal workflows, which is valuable with a risk-free guarantee exclusive to top-tier plans.
More significant benefits of Osano include strong value-added services for risk analysis in third-party vendors, a risk-free guarantee, and customizable cookie consent banners. However, there are some considerations such as high prices for features, constraints on website traffic, and the use of cut-and-paste legal templates warrant consideration.
The dependability of Osano is visible in its powerful engineering and admirable devotion to legal policy management. Despite that, certain limitations are notable, including a monthly cap on the site traffic at 5,000 visitors for the free plan. Also, specific GDPR and CCPA compliance features are restricted to premier plans.
Osano lacks customized legal policies and offers templatized agreements that are modifiable. The collection of Osano’s features is indeed comprehensive, but the absence of tools like a privacy policy generator might be considerable. Still, the platform rightfully owns a top place among robust consent management tools.
6. CookieYes
CookieYes is a versatile CMP that focuses deeply on cookie management and has a strategic presence in prominent plugin marketplaces for consent management systems. Although the platform doesn’t manage Personally Identifiable Information (PII), countless users like it because it’s available across distinct platforms like WordPress, Drupal, and more.
The platform comes with a user-friendly form and has achieved its popularity through providing services to over a million websites. It doesn’t offer some pro-level features of other CMPs, including custom consent forms through site code scanning. However, it records responses flawlessly and integrates well with diverse CMS platforms.
CookieYes is an excellent platform for businesses that use different CMSs because it provides them with a simple setup within the CMS menu. Its biggest advantages include integration with CMS platforms, consent form generation, and cookie blocking based on visitor responses. This makes the platform an eligible choice for those who need a mighty cookie management system within their CMS ecosystem.
CookieYes’ free plan supports businesses with fundamental needs and provides them with 100 pages per scan, 25,000 page views per month, and minimal customization options. Those with premium plans can enjoy additional features, which make CookieYes a beneficial choice if you are looking for a straightforward cookie management system inside your confined CMS platform.
7. Ketch
Ketch is a CMP that provides primary infrastructure and APIs to assure the collection and perpetual maintenance of privacy consent choices. It’s a worthwhile solution for publishers and offers pre-built templates for sustained adherence to GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and other regulations.
A Ketch’s noteworthy feature is its native identity resolution that identifies users across devices and channels to enable custom-made privacy experiences as per their certain preferences. The platform’s lightweight and dynamic infrastructure guarantees faster page loads and records/processes consent information based on legal requirements.
Ketch offers a rhythmic combination of applications, infrastructure, and APIs to untangle the intricacies of privacy operations and leverage responsibly compiled data for enhanced customer engagement and ultimate development.
The free plan of Ketch includes day-one cookie banners and consent management through a self-service privacy suite. It simplifies the setup of consent and cookie banners for varied jurisdictions, which are customizable to match brand styling and voice. Ultimately, it enables easy collection and recording of user consent.
8. Clickio
Clickio is our next CMP that’s been crafted specifically for publishers and provides them with a free and user-friendly tool to set up consent workflows in a flash. It complies with the Transparency and Consent Framework v2.2 and Google’s CMP Certification to ensure publishers will comply with official standards.
What distinguishes Clickio is its stable support for Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), coupled with automatic ad tag pausing to prevent Google TCF errors. The platform’s design is optimized for high consent rates and instantaneous loading. It offers customizable colors, styles, and dialog positions.
Clickio supports multiple languages and custom disclosures to maximize its adaptability. Its real-time access to consent data through comprehensive reporting lets publishers comprehend visitor consent behavior better.
Also, the platform’s paywall integration helps users have greater control over their consent data. This compatibility with any paywall platform enables steady synchronization of consent data, which makes the platform a captivating option for publishers who need quick/easy integration of a strong CMP.
9. Didomi
Didomi is a French, professional CMP that comes with a collection of mid-market features and ample integrations. The platform complies with all prominent data privacy laws using its solid features and a commitment to quality User Experience (UX).
More distinguishing advantages of Didomi include its substantial integration potential with myriad business systems, which is best for advanced users who enjoy customization options and third-party integrations. The platform is indeed a feature-rich CMP you can currently find on the market.
Despite all the benefits, Didomi deals with challenges in user feedback. That’s because of the platform’s technical complexity and the potential impact on website load speeds, which might negatively impact SEO and conversion rates. The integration process is somewhat challenging, and the platform’s requirement for long contracts raises concerns about flexibility.
10. Iubenda
Iubenda is a fantastic CMP that’s designed for easy consent acquisition for cookies and personalized ads. It guarantees compliance with various regulations such as GDPR, Cookie Law, CPRA/CCPA, VCDPA, and more.
The platform presents a broad path to achieving higher consent rates, maximized ad revenue, and all-around compliance with privacy-first, business-centric GDPR Consent Management Solutions. It keeps users updated with the latest requirements and supports IAB TCF, GPP, and GPC.
The Iubenda SDK delivers rejection recovery, lightning-fast solutions, and app support for Android and iOS to optimize performance across devices. It can be customized for the utmost consent rates as it furnishes device-referred themes, A/B testing, cookie paywall creation, and an AI-powered CMP that uses machine learning algorithms.
Besides, Iubenda has a deep focus on performance through tasks such as simplified tracking and analysis with email alerts, benchmark and optimization reports, and features such as WCAG for accessibility.
Final Words
Consent management platforms are gradually becoming indispensable components for managing privacy regulations. Google will soon mandate certified CMPs, and the top ten CMPs we discussed today are among them, including the likes of OneTrust and CookieYes.
These platforms guarantee compliance, user trust, and operational efficiency on their road to forming the future of online privacy. They align well with business needs and regulatory landscapes to furnish transparent and dependable digital adventures.
About the Author
Robert Koch – experienced SaaS application designer and business optimization through automation consultant. An avid home brewer and cheesemaker in his spare time.
